I never thought of getting Olympic quota so soon

Mumbai: Young pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat on Tuesday said she had not even dreamt of qualifying for London Olympics after looking at the age of her competitors in the ISSF World Cup in the United States, where she won a bronze medal to book a berth in the 2012 sporting extravaganza.

"Most of the competitors had probably children my age and I thought it would need another eight years at least to get a quota place. It`s a dream for every shooter to take part in the Olympics," said the 20-year-old Rahi at her first-ever media conference here today.

Rahi fired 789.7 to win the bronze and the quota in the 25m air pistol event. She shot 582 to qualify for the finals in which she tallied 207.7 to win the third place at Fort Benning.

The Kolhapur-born pistol wielder, who had changed her grip before the World Cup in America, said she had benefited from the constant interaction with other shooters and the international exposure.

"I took up the game in 2008 and because of the constant interactions and international exposure the pistol shooters, have gained in self confidence, though without a national coach. Our performance will only improve now on," said the Delhi Commonwealth Games 25m pistol pairs gold medal winner.

Though there`s no coach for the pistol shooters at the national level, Rahi and others at the Lakshya-supported "Gun for Glory" shooting academy at Balewadi in Pune – brainchild of ace rifle shooter Gagan Narang – have got a foreign coach to train them now.